Hello All,

The Washington Capitals finished off a roller coaster week of hockey with a sound 8-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre last night. It wasnt until the third period where the Capitals started to pull away. Once they did start to seperate the game, they made sure to put the Habs away and secure a vital 2-points.

Here are the stats from the game:

Shots on Goal:
WSH – 41
MTL – 32

Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 28
MTL – 24

Corsi For %:
WSH – 58.65%
MTL – 41.35%

Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 56.25%
MTL – 43.75%

Power Play:
WSH – 2/6
MTL – 0/2

Hits:
WSH – 34
MTL – 21

Blocks:
WSH – 12
MTL – 18

Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 44
MTL – 27

Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 31
MTL – 20

High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 23
MTL – 11

High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 18
MTL – 7

My Takeaways:

A Pair of 4-Point Performances - Both Dmitry Orlov and Anthony Mantha scored four points in this game. For Orlov, this was first game since his two-game injury absence. Orlov looked great in his first game back and posted a 1G-3A-4P stat line. Two of his assists were primary assists. Considering offense and defense, Orlov may be our best and most well-rounded defensemen. For Mantha, this game was a little extra special. Mantha is from Longueuil, QC, which is just an 18min drive to Bell Centre. According to his NHL.com bio, "Hockey runs in Mantha's blood. His grandfather Andre Pronovost won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens four straight seasons from 1956-60." This was objectively Mantha's most offensively productive game since joining the Caps. He posted 2G-2A-4P last night. Since his debut for the Caps on April 13th, 2021 against the Flyers, Mantha has played 44-games for the Caps. He has registered 2-points just three times and he has never recored a game with either 3-points or 4-points for the Caps. This game had to feel great for Mantha.

Goaltending - I feel like every blog I have to bring this up but it is of course the biggest elephant in the room. How far the Capitals go in the playoffs will largely depend on how the goaltending performs in the postseason. Even in a 8-4 win, Vanecek looked average. I thought he had some strong saves in the first period to keep the Caps in the game. Montreal came out gunning in the first and outshot the Caps 15-7. Vanecek stopped all four of the Canadiens high-danger chances in the first period. Here is Vanecek's stat line for the night:

Saves - 28/32 (.875)
High Danger Saves - 7/9
Medium Danger Saves - 7/8
Low Danger Saves - 11/12
Rebounds Shots Against - 6

We really shouldnt knock Vanecek for the high-danger goals against but the medium and low danger goal against are generally shots he should stop. In addition, giving up SIX rebound shots is pretty absurd if you ask me. I dont compile this game stats in a master spread sheet but I would guess six rebound shots against has to be a season-high against the Caps. Gotta clean that up!

Alex Ovechkin - Ovechkin continues to roll down the stretch of the season. Last night Ovechkin scored his 47th goal of the season and lucky number 777 in his career. Since March 3rd, 2022, Ovechkin has scored 15 goals in 20 games played. Ovechkin's goal came on a night where he registered 4-shots on goal and delivered 2-hits. Taking a closer look, he had 6-chances for, two high-danger chances, and drew one penalty. According to @CapitalsPR, the goal marks Ovechkin's first goal against goaltender Sam Montembeault. It is the 159th goaltender Ovechkin has scored against in his career. In NHL history, 6,730 NHL skaters have scored 159 or fewer goals in their career. Ovechkin is three goals away from the 50-goal mark for the regular season. The Caps have 7-games left on the year. Does he get to 50? Ovechkin and the Caps face two of the leagues top three GAA goalies in Ilya Sorokin (twice) and Igor Shesterkin in the Caps final three games of the season. If he is going to hit 50, he try to do it before that final three game stretch.

Next up, the Capitals travel to Denver, CO to play the #1 team in the league in the Colorado Avalanche. This will be another good gut check game for the Capitals. Was the beaten provided by the Toronto Maple Leafs just an off night for the Caps or is are the Caps simply just outmatched against the top-tier teams in the NHL. We will fight out against Colorado thats for sure. That is all for today. Thanks for reading and GO CAPS!

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Stats/Facts/Video Clips Provided By:

nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
hockeyfights.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
@Capitals Twitter page
@HerseyBears Twitter page
>>>Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals<<<

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